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After finishing up my time in the army, I've moved to the land of rain and pine. The Gentleman and I aren't super different in our desire for better health, though I've got a lot more damage built up that I need to undo. We aren't purely paleo or primal, but, being the gluten sensitive foodie in the house, the food we eat is heavily inspired by ancestral cuisines. I have a gluten free sourdough starter growing, and I try to balance nutrition with cost and the occasional gluten free pizza. Would be better for my healing if I was 100% grain free? Possibly, but at the moment, consistency is what matters most.

ON EATING, BARBARA DAMROSCH & ELIOT COLEMAN Like anyone, I have my own style of cooking and eating, and it supports a goal that Eliot and I share: to combine healthy eating with maximum pleasure. I try to approach cooking vegetables and fruits in a way that retains the most nutrients. I don't boil them and then throw away the water. I'll steam them, or I'll saute them, often in such a way that their cooking liquid has evaporated at the point when they're tender. We like our greens cooked only briefly, but we have never understood the fad of rock-hard firmer vegetables, like broccoli and green beans, cooked too briefly to develop their flavors. We prefer them with just a bit of crunch--not mushy, and not underdone. We rinse or scrub vegetables well, but peel them only when the skin is unpleasantly tough. Another trend that has passed us by is the pervasive fear of fat. Depriving ourselves of cream, butter, or bacon would only backfire and prompt us to gorge on them. What works better for us is portion control (stopping when we're no longer hungry) and a dose of exercise, much of it gained by growing food. The one thing we're a bit strict about is our avoidance of processed foods, which tend to be over-salted and full of additives and empty calories. We try to avoid refined foods, especially refined carbohydrates, that have been stripped of nutrition. Recent research emphasizes, over and over, that they do is more harm than good.

CHARACTERISTICS OF TRADITIONAL DIETS, WAPF
1. The diets of healthy primitive and non-industrialized peoples contain no refined or denatured foods such as refined sugar or corn syrup; white flour; canned foods; pasteurized, homogenized, skim or low-fat milk; refined or hydrogenated vegetable oils; protein powders; artificial vitamins or toxic additives and colorings.
2. All traditional cultures consume some sort of animal protein and fat from fish and other seafood; water and land fowl; land animals; eggs; milk and milk products; reptiles; and insects.
3. Primitive diets contain at least four times the calcium and other minerals and TEN times the fat soluble vitamins from animal fats (vitamin A, vitamin D and the Price Factor–now believed to be vitamin K2) as the average American diet.
4. In all traditional cultures, some animal products are eaten raw.
5. Primitive and traditional diets have a high food-enzyme content from raw dairy products, raw meat and fish; raw honey; tropical fruits; cold-pressed oils; wine and unpasteurized beer; and naturally preserved, lacto-fermented vegetables, fruits, beverages, meats and condiments.
6. Seeds, grains and nuts are soaked, sprouted, fermented or naturally leavened in order to neutralize naturally occurring anti-nutrients in these foods, such as phytic acid, enzyme inhibitors, tannins and complex carbohydrates.
7. Total fat content of traditional diets varies from 30% to 80% but only about 4% of calories come from polyunsaturated oils naturally occurring in grains, pulses, nuts, fish, animal fats and vegetables. The balance of fat calories is in the form of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids.
8. Traditional diets contain nearly equal amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 essential fatty acids.
9. All primitive diets contain some salt.
10. Traditional cultures consume animal bones, usually in the form of gelatin-rich bone broths.
11. Traditional cultures make provisions for the health of future generations by providing special nutrient-rich foods for parents-to-be, pregnant women and growing children; by proper spacing of children; and by teaching the principles of right diet to the young.

WOW
Okay, enough of this asinine tomfoolery (or unmitigated poppycock as it were).

Haha that made me giggle. Read it out in a British accent in my head.

I was actually going to comment on your first post but then I read the bit where you said you wanted it to be ignored soooo!

Anyway, it sounds like you're pretty in tune with what works for your body. Your main issue sounds like just general stress/ a feeling of being overwhelmed. Although I can't tell you how to deal with your stress (other than talking it out - you can spam me/other MDA people or journal or talk to someone you know)but maybe the bit about being unprepared - can you pack food to take with you instead of a day of only eating pizza like you mentioned?

As for no time/energy for exercise, maybe squeeze in a 20 minute work out. A friend on here showed me Fitness Blender videos and they have some really quick ones and you can do them at home.

Everyone slips up btw, and you shouldn't doubt your ability to achieve what you want because of it. You already seem to know what to do and how to achieve your goals. Shit happens! Flush that shit and carry ooon!

Im sending this from my phone, so i'm sorry if any of it is jumbled or weird etc.

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Also my first reaction was EEEK I'VE BEEN FOUND OUT. But thanks a lot for the kind words. I know it is 97% stress with me.

Im fairly certain 90% of the journals on here have at least one 'i'm feeling shit about myself and life so here's a giant super negative rant' post. Mine has more than one, haha.

You're very welcome! Are you stressed about something in particular, or just life being super busy etc? Journalling can be pretty therapeutic, and people on here are (mostly) very supportive and insightful.

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One is how to schedule meals and workouts when I get back to work. I will have little time between PT and work which is 12 hour shifts with a hopeful but not guaranteed lunch and dinner break. I am thinking to grab something small and protein heavy (something egg or dairy based) for breakfast and pack a BAS for lunch to eat on the job. That way I can use my lunch break to go the the gym (for a real workout) or walk or run errands. Then I'll have time for a nicer meal at dinner.

It's not my favorite schedule because large meals rarely sit well with me, but I guess if I can get the BAS BA enough, dinner won't need to be a calorie bomb in the evening. I am really looking forward to some chill time at lunch too.

I am ordering Starting Strength, and I need to make an appointment regarding my shoulder. Very contradictory. To be honest, I want a permanent profile just so I can explain that this is bad because it causes injury. You'd think that would be so simple but no. I don't know how that's going to go though. I probably won't tell my doctor about wanting to lift, but I also won't be an idiot and start out with much weight or anything that hurts. So far I've had pretty damn good luck doing the opposite of what the doctors say. Who knows, I could still be riding the blood sugar roller coaster and limping around in orthotics.

Finally, call the Whole9 police because I'm about to say something controversial. I see a bunch of people here, and I think it's increasing, with problems possibly tied to malnutrition (hair loss, persistent low energy, just wild and crazy things that are very reminiscent of the raw foodist "detox") being put down as carb flu or some other popular diagnosis.

There are a lot of smart people here, but let me tell you they usually aren't the ones reminding me frighteningly of the witch hunters over at 30 bananas with their cries of "detox the carb eater!" (Carbs not being the only, but a common one) Nobody reads my journal anyway, BUT IF ANYONE DOES AND YOUR HAIR IS FALLING OUT, you're probably not doing what's best for yourself. Quit that and try something else, possibly not so extreme, and covering all your nutrients both macro and micro for awhile. EDIT because of this beautiful statement: "Don't worry about "paleo purity points", contrary to popular belief you don't get a gold star from Robb Wolf or Mark Sisson when you earn 1000 PPP."

Tl;dr: don't give your body something unhealthy and then expect it to become healthy just because you have "faith." Faith is for the soul; food is for the body.

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Finally, call the Whole9 police because I'm about to say something controversial. I see a bunch of people here, and I think it's increasing, with problems possibly tied to malnutrition (hair loss, persistent low energy, just wild and crazy things that are very reminiscent of the raw foodist "detox") being put down as carb flu or some other popular diagnosis.

Tl;dr: don't give your body something unhealthy and then expect it to become healthy just because you have "faith." Faith is for the soul; food is for the body.

Hey dude. Totally agree with you here. I'm seeing it as well and it scares me shitless (I wish that was literal, with my gut...). I really really dislike every chalking symptoms up to "carb flu". I wish more people would advocate a gradual reduction. If someone says, "I'm coming off a very high carb diet with lots of processed foods," I think they should absolutely indulge in some starchy carbs & fruit for a bit. Take it primal first, adjust macros later.

Depression Lies

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So I just took a massive leave in America and back in Korea with my mom (who I told about my WOE and, though not specifically PB, Mark's blog. Hi mom. Love you). I didn't have a scale and all of my meals were eaten out once we hit Korea (most of them stateside were too, though it wasn't really my choice).

I actually lost a little weight, so I'm down to where I was pre vegan. I did do a higher carb, because while I will gladly eat beef soup and grilled pork belly most days, sometimes you just have to sample the local delicacies of fish and medicinal cuisine (which ended up to be lots of delicious things followed by lots of things fermented to levels as high as a Grateful Dead concert).

A few things I noticed that I am going to either utilize or learn from.

I don't do well on starch in the morning, or really anytime other than right before bed. I just crash too hard. On the days when my carb exceeded 140g, or I ate it too much unbalanced towards one meal, my blood sugar go wild really on either sugar or starch, but rice was always worse than a breakfast of yogurt and sweetened tea even.

I felt better if I kept meat and rice separate, just as an example. Though my digestive issues didn't really go away, I felt a ton better after a couple days eating excessively fermented fish and vegetables and grilled pork belly. I really think the ferments had something to do with it, though I don't have any proof.

Most days we skipped breakfast and ate one big meal for either lunch or dinner and light for the other. This would be ideal if I wasn't stuck at work and not aloud to leave when I was hungry. Getting hungry at work before I can leave is really difficult because there are an unbelievable amount of unhealthy things to eat. Seriously, if you love your soldier, send them meat not cookies and cheap chips.

We walked for probably four to ten hours every day. I really think this is where the weightloss came in. Just a really low impact, slow walk with a couple hills and lots of stuff to see and do and good things to eat. No wonder Koreans are (generally) healthier and lighter than Americans. I got it. A new diet book. But this time we won't limit macros, just sell your car.

I wish I wasn't stuck at a desk for twelve (YES FUCKING TWELVE) hours, but that's something I'll have to figure out, because while I agree that it I may be 80% diet, that 20% exercise is loaded in my case. I gotta get into a pool again or something. Just hoping we get to stay on this schedule longer than the last one. Probably not though, as new first sergeants tend to think the other guy was a complete idiot and he can do better before understanding the mission.

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Today is a special day kiddos; it's market day aka curry day! What this means is I've finally made it through the eight pounds of wonderful Aussie brisket, and now I need more meat. But before that, I catch the bus into town and walk to the Indian restaurant for some mutton curry, rice, and chai.

The butcher had some really nice looking beef shoulder, so I got a couple kilos of that. I'll pick up the rest of my list at the commissary, providing they have it.

And then I think I'll dose my shoulder in preparation for the PT test and crash for a little.

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Ho-ly-crap-guys. Even though it's probably the first thing I'll say to anyone, it still manages to amaze me how much the body is affected by simple calories and starvation. Over break, I upped my calories to 2000 a day, or as close as I could get at least, and I've been trying to keep it around there ever since. I expected to gain weight at the expense of higher energy, but the opposite happened. I finally quit making excuses and get out and do things, mostly just walking, and put up with everyone's weird comments (in the army it is absurd to do anything low impact or that doesn't break a sweat in twenty minutes or less and then hold it there for ninety minutes). But fuck them, because it's working. I am losing body fat at an average of 1924 calories a day. And I feel great. I'm down to 158 which was my basic training weight. Doing stuff somewhat akin to basic training a la move around a lot, get smoked occasionally, and eat a lot of food.